Lawsuit Charges Tech Standout

Woman Accuses Cornell Brown Of Aiding Teammates' Assault

Virginia Tech All-American football player Cornell Brown is a defendant in an amended civil suit filed by a woman accusing two other Tech football players of rape.

In the complaint, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, plaintiff Christy Brzonkala accuses Brown of aiding and abetting teammates James Crawford and Tony Morrison in confining her to the dormitory room of Morrison and Crawford the night of Sept. 21, 1994. She says Morrison and Crawford raped her there.

During Virginia Tech judicial hearings the following spring against Morrison and Crawford, Brown testified that Crawford was with him during the time Brzonkala says the rape occurred. Crawford was exonerated; Morrison was found guilty of sexual assault, but after an appeal the charge was amended to abusive conduct.

Morrison, who says the sexual intercourse was consensual, was suspended from Tech for two semesters after each conviction, but Provost Peggy Meszaros reduced the penalty to probation and one hour's counseling in time for Morrison to play football this past season.

Brzonkala, who admits to drinking during the night in question, did not tell anyone about the incident for several months. She did not file criminal charges, but after she publicized Tech's handling of Morrison's penalty, the Attorney General's office ordered the state police to investigate whether a crime occurred. The investigation is ongoing.

The suit, which also names Virginia Tech as a defendant, asks for $10 million in damages from Morrison. It also requests an injunction prohibiting Tech from internal prosecution of sexual assault cases and directing the school to provide at least five hours of mandatory sexual assault awareness education to all athletes in their first month on campus.

The suit asks for compensatory damages, to be determined by a jury, against Brown and Crawford. Brown was a consensus All-America defensive end last season as a junior. Morrison was a key reserve linebacker, Crawford a seldom-used receiver.

Brzonkala, a Tech freshman at the time of the incident, dropped out of school after Morrison's suspension was overturned. She now attends George Mason University in her hometown of Fairfax.